To Dennis, Doug, et all,
Has anyone, to date, tried to alloy gold (Au) with Germanium (Ge) to
create a heat treatable alloy of 14K or lower? This is, Ge, afterall
one of the alloying metals used in Argentium Sterling. I am not a
metallurgist, only a student jeweler. The other possibility would be
to research what are the common alloys used by horologists when
repairing antique watches. My suspicions are that if one were to
create a “screw blank” mold to cast several pieces in a large format
machine, or large production run, then with the use of a tap and die
it would be quite easy to create repeatable quality and quantity.
The only questions left would be: if there is a large enough market
for a precious metal fastener; whether or not color matching would
be an issue; and how prone to loosening would these fasteners be?
Michael L Gaebler
Texas Institute of Jewelry Technology
Drilling and taping Small screw holes can be done in such a way as
to reduce the amount that the screw hole’s threads are being cut .
This is done by using a slightly larger drill bit and the same sized
machine tap. The threads are not as deep and are easier to cut.
The screw can be made of drawn wire with a fused rounded head. the
head can be turned flat and a screw slot made with a fine saw blade.
But first I would cut the threads in a long piece of wire . Then
make the screw head with slot.
Machineist dies are sometimes split and are adjustable to cut deeper
or more shallow threads . Machine screws are normally cut to a 75 %
screw enguagement.
There is a type of anerobic locktite made by - are you ready -
Locktite Corp. It can be used to mold a very satisfactory screw
thread in metal.
Figure out how big the screws are needed. Put the diameter in 1 /
1000 in. or in 1/100 mm. on the Orchid Digest. Then I can offer more
advice.
ROBB.